Your face is your fortune

Passport photographs often cause difficulties – even delays. People change, and that is reflected in their face, and of course the photographer may not be the best, although they now have digital photography and no excuses.

For 15 years he has been in hiding as his face was hideously disfigured. Today, thanks to medical science and s 150 doctors, he has a completely new face and can be seen in public again without embarassment.

After 15 years of wearing a mask and living as a recluse, a 37-year-old Virginia man disfigured in a gun accident got a new face, nose, teeth and jaw in what University of Maryland physicians say is the most extensive face transplant ever performed.

Richard Lee Norris of Hillsville is recovering well after last week’s surgery, beginning to feel his face and already brushing his teeth and shaving, University of Maryland Medical Centre officials announced yesterday. He has also regained his sense of smell, which he had lost after the accident.

“It’s a surreal experience to look at him. It’s hard not to stare. Before, people used to stare at Richard because he wore a mask and they wanted to see the deformity,” Rodriguez said. “Now, they have another reason to stare at him, and it’s really amazing.”

Although he now has the donor’s face, he doesn’t resemble the donor, Rodriguez said. It’s a combination of two individuals, a true blend,” he said.

Norris’ vision was largely unaffected by the accident. Because of numerous reconstructive surgeries, his forehead and neck were mostly scar tissue. Norris had no teeth, no nose and only part of his tongue. He was still able to taste but could not smell.

“He could not smell for the past 15 years, and that was the most dramatic thing — immediately, on day three, he could finally smell,” Rodriguez said.

The 36-hour operation was the most extensive because it included transplantation of the teeth, upper and lower jaw, a portion of the tongue and all facial tissue from the scalp to the base of the neck,

The most dramatic moment came when the team had finished removing all the previous attempts at reconstruction. All Norris had left was a bit of tongue and minimal protection for his eyes. Rodriguez called it the point of no return. “At that point, we had to be successful,” he said. Norris will require minor revisions, but those will be outpatient procedures, he said.

It was the 23rd face transplant since doctors began doing the procedure seven years ago. The first full face transplant was performed in France in 2005 on a woman who was mauled by her dog. The Cleveland Clinic performed the first face transplant in the US in 2008.

Researchers found that transplants involving large amount of bone marrow with its own blood supply saw fewer or no rejections, transplant surgeon Dr Rolf Barth said. Norris will have to take immuno-suppression drugs for the rest of his life to keep his body from rejecting the donated face, but the jaw transplant could mean he will need less and may be able to go off steroids, he said.

“This was the perfect patient to put into practice what we had discovered in the laboratory,” Barth said.

AP

2. A different kind of “Transfiguration”

The above story is traumatic but this other future scenario will have quite a different effect.

What if you were 100 years old, with a 100 year old mind and memory, but a 50-year old physical body?

How would people react to you?

144,000 people on this planet will experience their physical body being returned to that of one that is half their age – yet they will retain the knowledge and memories that they have collected over their current lifetime. They may be 50-60-70-80 years old, but their physical body will be and look half that age. Quite an experience!

How many would ‘give their eyeteeth’ to have that opportunity!!!?

But it is not something one can apply for.

To the best of my knowledge it is reserved for Lightworkers who have important tasks ahead in the Golden Age, and need maximal fitness or physique to carry out these tasks over an extended period.

It is a procedure that can only be carried out on the 13th dimension and will take three (Earth) days (to the best of my understanding).

How one explains one’s current passport photo at short notice ….. is not yet known!